Step Back
Year X998 A Simple Bout Nozomi stood up. "So...we simply beat this thing...and you're return us the book and take us back to the library?" "That is correct." "And there's no catch to this? Nothing else after this?" "Not at all." "Then this might be just what I need." She was a bit eager. This owl, his questions, everything seemed to be distracting her from the memories inside her head. She was eager to let that continue. "Seika, let's break it like we did grandfather's cleaver when we were kids." Seika nodded. "Yeah. Snap it like a twig." A faint aura of cyan surrounded her body; her feet left the ground as she began levitating. "...This is a power unlike any other. Not magic. Not natural. It's a power born from exposure to the dimensions. This is the power of a psychic. Prepare yourself, 'cause now, I'm gonna save this world!" The beast lunged at them with blinding speed, moving before they could really react , it's claws extended as if to rip out their soft young throats. Nozomi's eyes seemed to shine in a rather disturbing manner. "It's moving!" Seika clicked her tongue in exasperation- as the cyan aura focused around her hands- releasing a powerful pulse of concussive force; with more than enough power to knock the demon away. "...Psychosmasher!" She stomped on the ground; causing several spikes of pure energy to erupt, aiming to pierce the beast at the same time. Acrobatically, the demon-creature leaped into the air, spiraling over the spikes and lunging for Nozomi. The girl took a stance, swinging her arm in the air, creating a large gust of wind from her own strength which set if off course. "Get it now!" Seika utilized her psychic power to let loose a blast of concussive force which shot forward in the form of a cyan wave, smacking into the demon at full strength, sending it crashing straight to the ground. "...This is easy. Almost TOO easy. Like, suspiciously easy." She was right, though. A blurring crimson aura shrouded the demon- as it entered a state similar to what the squirrel demons could utilize. Black wings erupted from its back as it suddenly became more animalistic; its eyes pulsating emerald. Whoosh. Before Seika could blink, the beast charged forward and socked her in the gut, sending her flying. "...When did it get so strong...!" The owl continued to watch as the children struggled. The demon was pushing them back easily, and they weren't managing to regain a real foothold. Were these two really the new promised children? Where had all their bravado gone? "It's fast!" Nozomi's eyes tried to track it as it moved, but she could barely see anything but a blur. This wasn't good. Without proper focus, her main abilities was her insane brute strength. If she couldn't see it...if she couldn't get close...what the hell was she supposed to do!? Seika could do naught but be pushed on the defensive; while the beast hacked away at her; slicing wildly as she could do nothing but form a barrier with her flames, held by her psychokinetic energy. in a vain effort to protect herself from the demon's vicious onslaught. "...Hey, Nozomi! Do something! You know it's friggin' hard for me to take hits, dammit!" "Well, so long as you have it distracted!" Nozomi launched forward, coating her fist in powerful magical energy. As soon as she got close, she ducked, sliding along the ground (such as it was), and thrusting her fist upwards towards the distracted beasts side. WHAM! The beast was knocked a few centimeters back as Seika's aura flared up, taking the form of a dragon. It was active only momentarily; but it did cause the beast to freeze. Now held in place, Seika condensed magical energy within her palm; declaring, "Psychocrusher!" A blast of pure energy was released from her palm, crashing into the demon as it was blown away. Nozomi pursued it. She didn't have anything half as flashy as what Seika could do, and was actually starting to feel outclassed, but she grabbed the beast by it's arm, spinning in place before letting it fly back towards Seika. "Can't you cut it!?" "...I don't have a bladed weapon, remember?" However...Seika extended her hand, as psychokinetic energy formed around it- shaping itself in the form of a cyan blade. "I do have this!" Darting forward with a pulse of psychic energy released from her feet, Seika immediately slashed its arm off as she rushed past. "It's arm? Really!?" Nozomi was getting visibly irritated. She needed to be able to pull off something flashy. Well, there was always that. "Seika, distract it! I think I have something!" The beast, registering Seika as the strongest combatant, turned towards her, releasing a large volley of dark energy from it's mouth. "Hyaa!" Seika raised her hand, emitting a barrier of psychokinetic energy from her hand, stopping the blast in its tracks. Teleporting forward, she unleashed a powerful overhead slash towards the demon. The demon, instead of dodging, caught the blade in it's claws hands. Whatever Seika was bringing to the table, this wasn't going to cut it. Literally. With Seika caught, the demon opened it's mouth, letting loose a cannon blast of energy at point blank range. Nozomi, meanwhile, had already taken a stance, her arm at her side, and magical energy was coating it. What was she doing? Seika was blown away by the demon's attack; quickly catching herself, she couldn't help but feel a certain amount of knockback as she tumbled along the ground, "Nozomi. now!" She called frantically to her little cousin; ready for her to settle it with a single blow. "On it!" Nozomi called out, and she began to glow softly with a golden light. "Heavenly Body Magic - Kōkagai." She cocked her arm back as it was enguled in a starry light. She charged forward, slamming her fist into the beast as soon as she got near. The end result was a fantastic display of lights with a drilling effect that left the monster without the majority of it's torso and legs. "Let's end it!" Psychic energy coursed throughout Seika's body as the cyan aura blazed fervently; erupting violently as it illuminated the area. "Finishing Move!" Seika charged her right hand with psychic power, then surrounded herself with psychic energy. "Final Psycho Missile!" Now fully surrounded by the mystical energy, she shot forward like a powerful bullet; the kick-off point unleashed a sonic boom as the blasted towards the demon, spinning like a torpedo. WHOOSH! Seika blasted straight through the demon with supersonic speed; the psychic energy that enveloped her eradicated what was left of the beast by pure density; the flaming psychic energy burnt it to ashes as she shot through it, like a bolt of lightning before landing on the ground. The owl fluttered in their direction, silently as a ghost. "You two are truly impressive. The stars spoke true when I was told of your arrival." He swept a wing over them, and they found themselves back within the library, the owl vanished, and the book back on the table. "Good luck." As the two returned, Seika picked the book up. "Alright, we've got it. Let's read. But then...how do we change the past, that's the big damn question!" She pulled her hair, frustrated. "I would think the first step is getting to know what happened." Nozomi replied, trying to calm her cousin down. "It's why we went through all of that to get this book. It has to contain valuable information." Seika set the book upon the table, flipping it open. "...Hmm, let's see...table of contents...Oooh! Rips in Time. Supposedly, the heroes used some sort of ring to travel through time." She slumped. "...That just raises further questions. Like how do we get this damn ring. ...Eh, let's actually read the damn thing." They persisted in turning a few pages, and noticed a very vague subject. "What's this....Ragnarok...the book doesn't really go into detail." Her eyes rolled down the page. "End of times....the coming of the red sky...cries of humans bleed out into the night....everything described here sounds so disturbingly close to what we're experiencing now....but there's nothing on the rings...." "Would you like to know more?" A carrying voice whispered throughout the library. "Are you curious, children?" "Go on." Seika said bluntly, not even facinated nor freaked out about the eerie voice. "I know you're some mystic person not from this time or something; it's what they all say." Materialising in front of them was a man in a striped bucket hat, loose green shirt and pant, as well as a dark overcoat. He was staring at them with a rather satisfied expression. "I swear, this family never does disappoint me." Seika wasn't surprised. "...Ah, dammit...you look suspicious as all get-out. But if you want something, explain." The fact that she was so unfazed was the freakiest part of it all. "Wait, I remember you." Nozomi stopped dead. "Mr. E, right? You visited us before...seven years ago, actually. It's because of you that our grandfather was able to go to the past. Where is he?" Mr. E was not deaf to the threatening tone the question held. "He's dead. But he's also alive." Nozomi twitched. "I can take you to him." Seika curled her hair.lightly, as she hissed in a light tone. "Sounds good. Hurry up then, let's go. There's no time to waste; we need to save the future right now." "Then let's step back." Back To The Past One of Mr. E's rings began to glow, and a blue whhirlwind shifted around them. The sight was breathtaking as Nozomi and Seika witnessed time turn back. They witnessed seasons shift, objects rebuild, and, as if a brief glimpse, a nightmare, a monster that passed by their sight within a second and was gone again. By the time everything ceased, they found themselves within a forest now, and Mr. E was looking around. "I could say that never gets old, no matter how many times I do it." Year X798 "I'm half expecting some "WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF YESTERDAY" crap, really. Anyway, this is the past? It's..." She bent down, feeling the soft green grass with her small hand; it was cool and refreshing; a smile crossed her face as she did so. "...This is amazing...I've...never seen grass before." "The air..." Nozomi had a serene look on her face. "It's...so pure here." However, what took them by surprise the most was how bright everything is. Nozomi looked upwards at the sky and winced. "So that's sunlight? It hurts...but it's warm." "Honestly, if we can't save the future...this doesn't seem like a bad place to live. It makes me feel like the world is worth living in. Whaddya say..." At least, the frowning, moody Seika was gone; replaced with a somewhat-happy one. "You seem to be mistaken." Mr. E's eyes were shadowed over by his hat, but his words were what held meaning, not his eyes. "This time, right here, is where everything will begin, children. The events that lead up to your future start here. I brought you here because you, more than anyone else, have the rights to use your hands and shape the future. If you fail, it will simply be déjà vu." Seika made a supportive gesture. "Right! For the sake of the world, we won't fail! I'll assure you that!" She sounded so...cheerful. A stark contrast to how she had previously been. Nozomi herself couldn't help but smile. "This world....it makes me feel as if I can do anything. Not even your own cryptic news can ruin this kind of joy." "Don't get too complacent." Mr. E was wondering whether or not the impact was a bit too much for them. "I did say I was bringing you to meet your grandfather. All you need to do is wait here. He should be arriving at this spot within the next few minutes." Seika sat down- the cool feeling of grass brushing against her exposed legs was simply sublime. "...I think I'm forgetting about why we should come back and save the future when we can just relax here..." She snapped herself out of it- returning to her normal seriousness. "...We wait. Maybe he wasn't such a hard-ass when he was younger..." "I'll leave that for you to decide." Mr. E promptly vanished on the spot, leaving the young girls to their own devices. "Just as a flower comes from a seed, or a chicken comes from an egg, everything has an origin. You need to find the being originally responsible for this catastrophe; the thing that razed your future." A pink-haired woman teleported before the duo. "...What do you mean?" Seika stood up; immediately fishy. "To fix the future, you need to change the past." The woman continued to explain. In order to change the past, you must eliminate the individual who had awakened Ragnarok. The Ragnarok Catalyst." The woman crossed her arms; sighing. Nozomi looked incensed. "If you know who, or what, it is, tell us!" She urged. "We need to know!" A small smirk crossed the pin-haired woman's face as she held up a holographic screen; formed from Archive. "...Here are my records of the beginning of the end." A quick fast-forward of flashes was played from the hologram, showing the death of a certain orange-haired man. "This was the day when Ragnarok's soul and body could merge, and terror was released from the world." She paused the video on the orange-haired man. "...And this man is the cause of the Ragnarok Catalyst." "...So, if we eliminate the orange-haired dingus, we can prevent the future's hell from being realized!?" Seika was desperate, pleading with the pink-haired woman. "That is correct." "Where is he then!?" Nozomi's glasses flashed ominously. "We'll destroy him before he gets too much power." Alexis rubbed her temple. "Ara, ara, He should be in a few minutes. For now, adieu." She teleported away. Seika sighed. "....She's as vague as the blonde guy..." So, they simply sat and waited. Finally, they heard the sound of voices, one male, and one female, and they seemed to be approaching. And...they seemed to bickering. The male voice even sound exasperated. "This is why I told you, you cannot attack every random person who gives you a distasteful look." The young girl shrugged. "Don't blame me. They just had to be a member of the community I don't like. Like the Exceed. Dirty winged rodents. Tried to con me right out of my money. Ripped their wings off is what I did." She stomped her foot, even angrier. The man sighed, and he and the girl quickly came into the eye sight of Nozomi and Seika. What registered with them immediately was the neck length orange hair. "It's a good thing I stopped you." The orange-haired man groaned. "There was blood and guts everywhere, it was horrifying. That is why I get nervous taking you anywhere." Seika blinked; checking out the bushy orange hair walking in their direction. "....That's him." One would think that there were many orange-haired people around- but this wasn't the case. "...Prepare yourself, sister." She gritted her teeth. "You're older, why don't you go first?" Nozomi suggested, courteously gesturing in the direction of the bickering duo, who seemed so immersed in their discussion they were unaware of the two girls. Seika shot her a glare. "No, how about you!?" She paused for a moment. "Ah, nevermind, I'll do it. You know what grandfather said. There is no use in introductions; only winning." Her eyes pulsed cyan; suddenly, the ground cracked underneath her as a bolt of psychic energy was launched towards the duo, who were seemingly unaware of the whole situation. "What the..!?" The orange haired man, however, could sense the energy coming, and turned to face it, getting the full brunt of the attack as he pushed the girl out of the way. "An attack right out of nowhere!?" His brown eyes narrowed in irritation as he shrugged the force of the attack off. "Is this E's doing?" "Heavenly Body Magic - Meteor!" A golden flash took the man by surprise, the speed the second girl moved at was difficult to comprehend, and sent him barreling backwards. "Seika, do it now!" Nozomi called out to her cousin. Seika floated overhead; her cyan aura overlapping her thin frame. With the man supposedly defenseless in his state of tumbling, she decided to kick him while he's down. "Psychoblast!" Charging psychic power into her hands, she unleashed a powerful cascade of psychic bolts, all homing in towards him. The bolts collided with the man resulting in a large explosion that rocked the area. "Did we do it!?" Nozomi landed next to Seika, looking on into the smokescreen. "I suppose that depends." The man's voice called out from the smokescreen as he forced it to dissipate with a hand swipe. Aside from battered clothes, he himself seemed to be in fine health. "If by "did it", you mean irritated me, then I suppose yes, you have succeeded." Seika's eyes widened as the dust settled around the man. "...No...no way..." She was absolute stunned; psychic powers were so...unique, she didn't think that anyone would be able to survive her onslaught- as well as Nozomi's attack. "...How did you do that...?" "Your attacks don't register with me." The man shrugged. "Charging right in at an opponent whose strength you cannot comprehend...well, I did hear common sense went down in the last seven years I was away from the general society." He could just hear his female companion shouting "I fucking told you!" Seika cracked her neck. "...Dammit." She sighed. "...Maybe we were in over our heads in this..." She was full of doubts; considering giving up. "...Maybe the future can't be changed...maybe we're doomed to a world of death and oblivion.." For that moment, Seika had stopped attacking; staring into the distance like it was naught but an abyss of nothingness. "The future...?" The man's eyes narrowed, and even his companion looked confused. "T-that's right!" Nozomi nodded. "We come from the future." Suddenly, a knowing look flashed across the man's face. "I see. E, get out here." Most likely because he had been watched, the man materialised as asked, right in front of the group of four. "Did you call?" Seika immediately switched back to her usual attitude, glaring over at E. "...Huh? ...Damn ninjas. You always surprise me...why the hell are you here!?" Demanding an explanation, her cyan aura flared up once more. "I did what I told you I would." Mr. E said simply. "I brought you to your grandfather." He made a gesture towards the orange haired man. "Do I look like the type to tell a lie?" Seika twitched. "As a matter of fact, yes. Yes, you do. Have you ever told the truth once in your life?" "Twice." Mr. E shrugged. "It was horrible." The orange haired man was seeming to lose his patience. "What do you mean, E? These are my grandchildren?" "Add on a few "greats" in there, and that would be the general idea." Mr. E was not fond of having to explain anything. While he was quite fond of hearing the sound of his own voice, he was't fond of it when he had to explain something to someone. "Jason, these children are from the same future Hephaestus was from. As in, your future." Jason's eyes widened, and he took one look at the children for a moment, trying to comprehend this. He immediately recalled all of the memories Hephaestus had forced into his head, and deduced that Seika must be the black-haired child he had felt so compelled to protect. But who was the brown-haired one? An anomaly of the timestream? However, what really hit him was the memories of how the world was in the future — he realised this was the girls' first time seeing a legitimate piece of the true world. "It's not like I can turn them away. Not now, when I know where they've come from..." Nozomi's eyes were focused on Hanako for a moment. She knew Jason had several women, and was wondering where this one placed on the significance chart. "...What the hell?! Look at them; they're not perfect like I imagined!" Her eyes turned red. "I fucking told you...no fooling around with those whores or else I'll castrate you...!!" An evil smirk crossed Hanako's face as she looked like she was about to punch his lights out. Mr. E seemed to be about to tell the girl something, but then thought better of it. He instead turned to Jason. "It's rather good to see you're well. You even seem more...relaxed than you used to." "Seven years away from the nuisances of society does that to you." Mr. E nodded in agreement. "Everyone has been lying low. The Shadow Remnants...the Council..." He jerked his head at the children. "However, their attack on your was the result of a woman from the Council. Your arrival is already bringing the chaos back on the center stage." Seika was absolutely thrown off by such news. "...Here too!? ....Tch, I guess this world can't catch a damn break..." She flexed her hands slightly. "...Tch, never mind." She motioned to Nozomi. "Listen up. I guess we'll have to save THIS world before saving OURS. It's a pain in the ass, but it's neccessary..." "Incorrect." It was Jason who spoke this time. "Time is something that is always in flux, it can be changed, time can be rewritten." Jason must have picked up this knowledge from Hephaestus' own memories. "Changing the past here will alter the future in your world as well, it will be changed." Seika held her head. "...Wowowowow. My head hurts after that...you'd think that it'd be easier to solve..." "The more pressing matter, however, is what to do with you two." Jason looked at the girls for a moment, and Nozomi actually looked a bit worried. Was he still angry about the attack? "You're from the future, and with nowhere to go....I can't exactly leave you — especially considering you are family. Why not this? Come with me, and join my guild." Seika...didn't have many other options. "...Tch, fine. Not like I have a choice..." She crossed her arms haughtily. "...Five minutes here and this happens..." "I kind of like it." Nozomi grinned. "I mean, we've heard so much about guilds, especially this one, but we've never been able to join one." She looked at Jason, her eyes alight. "We'll join, grandfather!" Jason let out a rather weak chuckle. "I'm going to have to get used to being called that." Seika turned away, "...Tch." She kept thinking that this was a hoax, or some hallucination, or something around those lines. "...I still say this is top-tier bullshit. But, we'll see..." To be defeated so easily, that was total bollocks. Mr. E snapped his fingers, a ring on his hand glowing as he created what appeared to be a portal. "Then I assume you're ready. I've opened these gates for all of the Akatsuki. It's time for you to return to the Haven, Akatsuki." END